Jessica Sartiani

Coffee can bring you back home

That’s the line of thinking of Jessica Sartiani, one of the most important women (indeed, people) in her industry. She’s cultivated her knowledge of coffee as a passion, but also as a way to overcome obstacles. 

“The daughter of a Florentine father and a Filipino/African-American mother, Jessica Sartiani has always loved coffee as a means of sharing and cultural exchange.”

To call Jessica Sartiani a barista is, to say the least, reductive. Since she was a little girl, she used to watch her father make coffee with the moka pot every morning and she saw that there was a kind of magic to the ritual. Her desire to grow up and enter this world herself was abiding and strong. When she visited a coffee roaster for the first time, she understood the right path to take: she’d begin a course of study that would reveal to her every possible secret about the world of coffee. It’s not often that passion-based choices can provide people with a decent living, but Jessica is an exceptional example.

Driven by her strong ideals, Jessica has always been against racial and ethnic discrimination. She remembers vividly the difficulties she initially faced when she was looking for a job, and how she was always penalized “because of her tattoos.” As soon as it became a trend, the doors of the working world opened to her. What changed in the meantime? Her skills were the same, but society lives on aesthetic canons. To cope with this problem, Jessica created a social media community called ‘Coffee soul relief’ to share her fears and to discuss social issues. This shows how she believes in the power of coffee as an emblem of collaboration and a symbol to overcome adversity and celebrate diversity.

“It was during Jessica’s trip to Honduras, that she was struck by the world of coffee.”

She had the opportunity to visit companies, roasting plants and come into direct contact with local entities and businesses, those from which the coffee many of us enjoy originates. Since then, she has come a long way, winning many awards, including the 3rd Grand Prix Profiles of Pressure. She didn’t even let the lockdown stop her. In order to actively support the entire industry, Jessica decided to run for the Board Sca, the Speciality Coffee Association. This was a way for her to examine and continue to expound upon the theme of quality coffee, treating it as an expert in the field, Opening people’s eyes regarding sustainability and accessibility, using coffee as a lens, is her goal.